


the canary and the assassin

by abbyscameron



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: A Lauryssa Collection, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:15:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23587495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abbyscameron/pseuds/abbyscameron
Summary: She never meant to fall so hard or so fast for her sister's ex.... but yet, here she was doing exactly that
Relationships: Nyssa al Ghul/Laurel Lance
Comments: 1
Kudos: 17





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I just wanted a place where I could put all the oneshots and drabbles I've written for Laurel and Nyssa into one spot

Laurel doesn't know how far they've been at this, but she knows it's been a few hours at least, her tired arms and sore legs prove that, but she powers through it. For now. She knows she needs to keep her guard up, even if this is just practice after what happened during the last session.

She ended up having to wear an ace bandage and splint to John and Lyla's wedding after spraining her wrist. It wasn't bad, didn't really bother her _that_ much but she could still see the worry and silver of guilt in Nyssa's eyes when the brunette had glanced at Laurel's wrist.

_"I am sorry," Nyssa said, bandaging Laurel's wrist after searching a first aid kit inside the gym._

_"Nyssa, I'm fine," Laurel assures her, one side of mouth tilting up into a smile. "It's just a sprain. I'll be fine in about a day or so."_

_"If you are certain."_

_"I am," Laurel responds as Nyssa finishes wrapping the bandage and clips it in place. Laurel doesn't miss how Nyssa's fingers splay across Laurel's wrist for longer than necessary, but doesn't say anything._

_Laurel does, however glance up to meet the assassin's gaze and is met with concern and something else. She's come to know that there's more to Nyssa than meets the eye, has come to consider the woman a friend, feeling the connection between them - the loss that they share._

_Laurel doesn't know how long they sit on the bench next to the boxing ring in the Wildcat's gym, staring at each other before Nyssa finally pulls away and stands up._

_Laurel pushes whatever thoughts about what happened away and tries to bring them back to a normal. Or as normal as a lawyer training to become a vigilante with an assassin can be._

_"You can make it up to me by treating me to a milkshake," Laurel tells her, standing up from the bench as well._

_"Would you like fries with that?" Nyssa jokes in return, her smiling lighting up her face and Laurel knows that she loves when Nyssa smiles. When her face lights up and Laurel sees the more human side of Nyssa._

_"You know me so well," Laurel responds with a smirk before heading towards the showers._

* * *

"Getting tired?" Nyssa comments, pulling Laurel from her thoughts and distracting the blonde long enough to knock her on her ass.

"I'm fine," Laurel tries to convince Nyssa, which has the assassin raising an eyebrow. "Okay fine, I'm a little tired."

"You do not have to change overnight," Nyssa tells her, holding out a hand to help Laurel to her feet. "That is the point of training. There is no rush."

Laurel knows that, she does, but. "I just wish I could do something more."

"I have heard that you have done more for this city without a suit than most with a suit has," Nyssa tells Laurel as if she can't believe the words she's hearing. "And if we are talking about Sara – I do not think she would want you rushing into something if you were not sure you were ready."

Laurel nods. "Yeah you're right."

Laurel knows that Sara would never want Laurel dying along with her because of this life. Laurel sighs, missing Sara again. They had just started repairing their relationship, had slowly turn it around to being sisters again, until Sara literally _died_ in her arms.

"Take a night off," Nyssa suggests, unwrapping her hands.

Laurel follows her lead. "I do have some casework I need to catch up on. I guess now is a perfect time to get it done."

That's how Laurel finds herself, sitting on her living room floor, surrounded by casefiles and her laptop and a pizza on the part of the coffee table not covered in papers, courtesy of Nyssa reminding her that she needed to eat something.

Said assassin is currently sitting on Laurel's couch, watching her work with intrigued laced in her dark eyes. Laurel doesn't think she's seen Nyssa look at someone with this intently unless she was planning on killing them for the league.

Though it's strangely comforting, having another person present even while doing something as mundane as reading a case file. Laurel's used to that other person being Thea and the air only slightly feels different with it being Nyssa.

There's a charge in the air, something Laurel's never felt before. There's something _more._ But of course, she pushes those thoughts away, not needing them at the moment. Especially with Nyssa being right _there._

In her apartment.

In her living room.

On her couch.

_Stop it Lance,_ she scolds herself, not needing to go down that road, even if there's that part of her that wants to. A part of her that just wants to say screw everything and jump.

_I close my eyes and I jump._

She had told Oliver that once before and maybe, just maybe she needed to follow her own words again.

* * *

Laurel wakes up that morning in her bed with no memory of how she got there. That is answered when she rolls over and sees a note on her nightstand. When she reaches for the note she doesn't recognize the writing right away.

_Perhaps you should try not to fall asleep on your coffee table. Also don't forget to eat breakfast, we have a sparring session later._

\- _Nyssa_

Laurel can't fight the grin that forms on her mouth. The blonde quickly realizes that she must have fallen asleep in the midst of her paperwork and Nyssa must have carried her to bed.

Something Tommy did from time to time, on the occasion that Laurel had fallen asleep during a movie.

_Except it's not the same thing, Laurel_.

She and Tommy had be dating. She and Nyssa were friends.

_Then why do I feel the same now as I did then?_

Laurel lets the note fall from her grasp, landing beside her on the bed before pushing the covers back, swinging her legs over and moving to a sitting position. It doesn't take long for her to realize that this is going to be a long training session.

Honestly, Laurel knows she wouldn't feel this weird about whatever she's feeling had it not been for Sara. Maybe Laurel didn't feel right about possibly having feelings for her sister's ex, someone she may not have even met had Sara not been killed.

* * *

Laurel was right when she told herself it was going to be a long session, mostly with Laurel trying to fight against any lingering feelings from that morning. Not needed those thoughts plaguing her when she was sparring with the person they were about.

Of course, that doesn't stop the assassin from picking up on them.

And Laurel mentally laughs at herself for even beginning to think that she could keep something from Nyssa. Someone with all that training would easily see through Laurel.

"Is something wrong?" Nyssa asks, as they come to a halt in their sparring, dropping her hands and titling her head, glancing at Laurel with concern in her eyes.

Laurel sighs and bits her bottom lip. She doesn't know what to say, doesn't know what she _should_ say in a situation like this.

"Would you believe me if I said I was fine?" Laurel tries instead, already knowing the answer before she even finishes the question.

"No," Nyssa responds, simply. "Even if it has not been a long time, I know you too well."

"I wouldn't even know where to start," Laurel admits, slowly, swallowing past a lump in her throat, suddenly becoming somewhat more nervous than before. "This really shouldn't even be a thing."

"I do not think I understand," Nyssa says after a while.

"I don't think I should be feeling like this," Laurel continues. "That I should be allowed to feel like I do…Hell, I'm probably seeing things that aren't there anyway."

Nyssa shrugs. "You never know unless you try. Or in this case, unless you talk about it."

"That's the thing, I don't know where to start."

"Perhaps moving will help you," Nyssa suggests and soon the two have moved back into the techniques they've been at for the past few weeks. Almost perfecting this dance of matching each other's movements, all while surprising each other at the same time.

Well Nyssa does more surprising Laurel with a new move than the other way around, but still.

Before Laurel realizes it, Nyssa says something that has Laurel stopping and she finally notices just how close they had gotten, and how her hand is still in Nyssa's grip.

"I think I understand what you mean. Maybe I even know what you are speaking of."

"What are you talking about?" Laurel pants, trying to catch her breath, if from the sparring or Nyssa's close proximity, she doesn't know. Maybe it's a mix of both.

"I think you know," Nyssa says, dropping Laurel's hand from her grip, leaving the two standing there, staring at each other.

"I almost wish I didn't," Laurel admits, her chest rising and falling. "It's a weird situation."

"It is," Nyssa agrees, stealing a glance at their feet, breaking eye contact with Laurel. "But does that mean that we should act as if there is not something there?"

_Is it right to act on it?_ Laurel finds herself thinking. She can't help but think of Sara, but at the same time, knows that Sara didn't heed the same warnings to herself when she decided to sleep with Oliver while he and Laurel were together. But she also can't fault Sara for falling under Oliver's spell either…

_Maybe this will be different._

"My trying to act like nothing was there didn't go over well," Laurel says, inching closer. "So maybe we shouldn't."

Nyssa glancing up again, meeting Laurel's gaze, dark meeting light and Laurel finds herself not wanting to look away.

"Even if I don't know how she would feel about it," Laurel continues, not knowing why but the words fall from her lips and she can't take them back.

"Perhaps she would just want us to be happy," Nyssa responds, not needing Laurel to elaborate and who _she_ is. They both know, they've both suffered a loss. The same loss.

Laurel finds herself thinking that she shouldn't worry too much about what she _should_ do and just do what feels right in the moment…She's already lost so many chances because she worried about what would happen. She's learned the hard way not to let things slip through her fingertips.

_Screw it._

"Maybe you're right," Laurel breathes out. She doesn't know who moves first, if it's her or Nyssa, but a part of her wonders if it was her, but soon her lips are meeting Nyssa's and a hand is moving to career her cheek. The kiss is softer, sweeter than any she's had before. They fit together in ways she never imagined.

Laurel pulls back enough to have her forehead resting against Nyssa's. "Where do we go from here?" she ponders, asking the question that she knows has to be on both their minds.

"We figure it out as we go," Nyssa responds, after she seems to mull it over in her own head. "One day at a time."

"One day at a time," Laurel echoes, feeling some of the anxiety from being slowly lift from her shoulders, leaving her lighter. She doesn't know what's going to happen tomorrow, or the next day or even next month, but she's curious to see where the two of them go from here.


	2. ‘Omg I can’t believe you still listen to CDs let me help you digitize’

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ‘Omg I can’t believe you still listen to CDs let me help you digitize’ AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was born from a tumblr prompt, it is totally random but it's adorable and I like it

Laurel walked around the small living room space, talking in the simple yet bohemian decor. She and Nyssa had been dating for a couple of months now and this was the first time Laurel had seen the other woman’s apartment. 

It was very much, her. 

Though Laurel came to a stop when her eyes fell on an organizer in the corner between a chair and a bookshelf. Her eyes widen and she stifled a laugh. 

“What are these?”

Nyssa raised an eyebrow. “I am sure you know what CDs are Laurel,”

Laurel laughed. “Well yeah obviously I know what they are. I’ve even had a bunch in my life, thank you very much. But what I mean is, who still has them nowadays?”

Nyssa closed the fridge and walked the distance to the other side of her kitchen. “I would not mock the woman who is cooking you food.”

“I’m not mocking, I’m just saying it’s a rare occurrence that people still have this extensive of a CD collection.” 

“Nice save,” Nyssa quipped.

Laurel just rolled her eyes and crossed the space across the living room, heading towards the kitchen. She sighed as she dropped into the stool in front of the island. 

“I’m just saying, you have got to let me help you digitize.”

Nyssa pulled the pan off the stove and set to dishing out the portion of their meal onto two separate plates. She grabbed both before turning around and sitting one in front of Laurel.

“If I say yes will that allow you to drop the teasing?”

Laurel smiled and it lit up her entire face. “Yes.”


	3. "i know you can’t cook for shit ..."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tumblr prompt: lauryssa + "i know you can’t cook for shit so i’ve been bringing you dinner every night, just, y’know, to keep you alive"

It wasn’t _technically_ a break up, they weren’t actually dating. But the tension was there, the spark, the blooming feelings that with the right movement would have sparked something. They weren’t official, they weren’t a _thing_ but they were a possibility. 

Maybe that was why it hurt so much. 

Laurel never expected to fall so hard, so fast. Hell, she never expected to fall at all. Nyssa was her _sister’s_ _ex_ after all and Laurel hadn’t even been really sure that she _liked_ girls. But they easily became friends after Sara died. They just _clicked_ in a way Laurel never had with anyone. 

Then the fight over Sara and the Lazurus pit had happened. 

It still played over and over again in Laurel’s mind. The harsh words, the cold look in Nyssa’s eyes, the slamming of the door. 

Laurel didn’t regret it, she couldn’t regret it. Maybe things at been bad at first; what with Sara being soulless and going on a killing spree. But they’d found her before too much damage had been done and had gotten her soul returned to her. Sara was relatively fine. 

Aside from the blood lust - which she was working on. 

Laurel sighed and glanced down at the files on her coffee table - she wasn’t going to get any work down. Not like this. 

A knock at her door startled her away from her work and her thoughts. She glanced at her phone to check the time. It was nearing nine o’clock. 

_Shit._

She had most definitely forgotten to eat. Laurel shook the thoughts away, stood up and went to the door. She checked the peephole noticing that no one was on the other side. 

_Strange_. 

Laurel opened the door anyway, her gaze landed on a container of food, with a note. She bend down to pick up the note and immediately recognized the hand writing. 

_I know you are horrific when it comes to cooking. And even more so at even remembering to eat. So I have brought you dinner._

_\- Nyssa._

Maybe Nyssa wasn’t made anymore. Or maybe she was, but she still didn’t want Laurel to starve…Either way, Laurel took the food and closed the door with a smile on her face. 

There was hope. 

Hope that things weren’t broken forever. 


	4. “please don’t walk out of that door.”

“Please.” 

Laurel hated begging, hated that it made her sound so weak. Except she didn’t have the energy to do anything else. She’d lost so much in her life already and now she was going to lose the one real friend she’d had in a while. 

And it was all her fault. She brought this on herself. Because she was too damn determined and too stubborn for her own good. 

Nyssa had warned her about the consequences of the Lazarus pit. 

“ _It is dangerous, Laurel. Those waters, they change a person. Who you bring will not be who you lost.”_

Even Oliver had told her not to. But really, she had stopped listening to Oliver years ago. 

So she had dug up her sister’s body, dragged it across the continent to nanda parbat, used the pit to bring Sara back, despite everything. Despite the warnings, the consequences, just because she wanted her sister back. 

Of course, Sara wasn’t the same. It was her body that flew out of the pit, on a murderous spree of everyone in the room. It may have looked like Sara; but it wasn’t her. Not really. Her soul had been removed from the body and they needed to find a why to return it to her. 

Nyssa and Laurel had a huge fight over it. There was yells, there was tears on Laurel’s end. 

“I warned you of the consequences, Laurel. I told you what would happen.” 

Nyssa didn’t exactly show her anger the way most people did, Laurel had quickly figured that out. Nyssa was cold, indifferent. Perhaps that was what hurt the most. 

She and Nyssa were on their way to _something_. Laurel could sense it, could feel it. In every glance, every accidental brush of their hands, every eye contact that was held a little too long when they trained. 

But Laurel had been stubborn, determined and maybe every a little desperate. She had wanted her sister back and if there was a way, she had to try. And apparently that had broken everything. 

A small part of Laurel wanted to apologize but she knew she wasn’t fully sorry. Not really. She had hope that they could bring her sister back. 

So instead of saying anything, she stood there and watched as Nyssa walked out the door. 


End file.
